The arts of Ancient Ife and the royal arts of the Yoruba peoples

When it comes to creating statuesque icons of the Portuguese, the artists attributed certain idiosyncratic features to the foreigners. For example, in Edo figures on sixteenth-century palace ivories we see how social estrangement is indicated by the exotic costume and differential facial features of the Portuguese. In both bronze and ivory, other iconographies of the Portuguese are to be found as freestanding harquebusiers, standing, mounted or partial figures on plaques or bracelets.

References:

Enid Schildkrout, Ife Art in West Africa: An Introduction to the Exhibition – Dynasty and Divinity: Ife Art in Ancient Nigeria

Kathy Curnow, Alien or Accepted: African Perspectives on the Western ‘Other’ in 15th and 16th Century Art